This chapter was supposed to come out like way earlier. Like almost 2 days ago. But I couldn't help myself and kept cooking that I way overshot my bare minimum of atleast 6,000 words per chapter. So here we are again with another 11,000 words chapter. That's all see ya in the next chapter Bruzzahs.
________________________________________
When Issei opened his eyes, all he could see was darkness—an endless void stretching in every direction. No light, no sound—just a suffocating abyss.
Yet... he could see himself perfectly.
His breath caught in his throat as he looked down at his own body. He was wearing armor, but it was unlike anything he'd ever seen or felt before. It vaguely resembled his Balance Breaker—the familiar draconic design still present—but this... this was something entirely different.
The armor was bulkier, far more imposing— like it was forged not for battle, but for war. Most of the armor plates were a darker, a crimson shade of red, with deep black segments layered underneath—giving it a more menacing, predatory appearance. The once vibrant emerald gems embedded across the suit were gone—replaced by glistening orbs of reddish-purple, pulsating faintly like beating hearts.
What truly caught his eye were the ancientpatterns carved along the armor's surface— strange, otherworldly symbols glowing in a myriad of shifting colors faintly along the edges of his gauntlets, chestplate, and legs. They seemed to shift and flicker, as if the armor itself was alive.
Issei's heart pounded in his chest, echoing in the endless void.
"What... the hell is this?"
His voice trembled, swallowed by the silence around him.
He clenched his fists, feeling the sheer power radiating from within the armor—far beyond anything he had ever felt before. It was overwhelming... suffocating. This wasn't just a transformation. But like an ascension into something divine.
A shiver ran down his spine.
"...Ddraig?"
But there was no answer—only silence.
But then he felt it—the feeling of something so wrong, something that sickened him to his core, the presence of something that shouldn't exist and yet it did.
It felt like that something was watching him.
The darkness beneath Issei's feet shifted — the once solid ground turning into a viscous, shifting mass that rippled under him. His legs began to sink.
"What the...?"
He thrashed instinctively, trying to pull himself free — but the more he struggled, the deeper he sank. The inky blackness clung to him, dragging him down like it had a mind of its own. It wasn't liquid... it wasn't solid... it was something else entirely.
Cold.
A cold unlike anything he'd ever felt before — not the cold of winter, but something deeper. It sank into his skin, into his muscles — into his very soul.
His breathing quickened, panic rising in his chest as the freezing numbness crept through his body. The deeper he sank, the faster it pulled him down — until he was nothing but a blur swallowed by thevoid.
It was like the darkness itself wanted to devour him.
His heart pounded painfully against his chest, the sound echoing in the endless nothingness. Fear clawed at the edges of his mind, primal and suffocating.
And then—
They appeared.
Six enormous orbs ignited in the blackness — violet, reddish-crimson lights burning through the void. They glowed like moltensuns, flickering with unstable fury — and the instant they fixed on him, Issei's heart nearlystopped.
They were eyes.
Watching him.
Boring into him.
Piercing straight through his body, down to the core of his very existence.
Issei's breath caught in his throat as the weight of their gaze crushed down on him — like his soul was laid bare before something... beyond comprehension. Something that shouldn't exist— a being lives outside the boundaries of existence itself.
He wanted to scream. He wanted to run.
But there was nowhere to go.
The orbs glowed brighter — their violet-crimson light swallowing the darkness around him — until a massive silhouette began to take shape within the void. It towered over him, its sheer size beyond comprehension. The creature's outline flickered in and out of view, its body hidden beneath endless layers of shifting shadows.
The six eyes locked onto him — and Issei knew.
It was staring at him.
It had always been staring at him.
A sound like distant thunder rumbled through the void as something began to manifest beneath him — a hand.
Enormous.
Its fingers stretched out from the black abyss, each one thicker than entire buildings, its palm wide open. It rose slowly, as if savoring the moment — as if it had been waiting for him all along.
"No... no... what the hell is this?!"
His voice cracked — but no sound escaped. The crushing silence answered him.
The hand closed.
Issei's entire world imploded.
Agony.
His armor cracked and shattered under the pressure — the ever-growing chill flooding into every corner of his being. His mind screamed in panic, in confusion, in fear — but no one could hear him.
Not Ddraig.
Not anyone.
The six burning eyes were the last thing he saw as the hand squeezed tighter — as if trying to crush his very soul.
Then the voice came.
A voice that didn't speak in words, but in pure, overwhelming dread.
'
'
'
Ḯ̴̡̭̦͖̱̙̳̖͓͈̱̠̖̖̫̤̠̠͒͒̎̎̈͋̑̉͒͊̀͂̌́͆͋̏̄ ̷̢̢̡̢͎̞̝̰̯̭̲̰̜͔̫̫̺̪̰̟̬͖̂͊̑̓̀̆̅͒̃̂̄̈̕̚̕ḩ̸̙̲̹̼̳̰̲͍̳͕̳̰̦̜̦̿̌̈́̓̊̚͜͜͠͝a̸̛͇͖̙̪͋̆̒̉̏̀̾̇͆̇͑́̋̑̈̄̉́v̸̨͇͉̩̪̺̜̩̝̘̖̆͆͋̈́͋́͊̋̈͂̕̚͜͠ĕ̴̝̦̹̘̤̭̐̉͒̏͐͂͝͠͠ ̶̠̖̱̪̅̒̽́̐̐̽̊̅̈̆̄̃͑̈́̆̎̎̿͒̽͜͝ą̴̡̧̡̼̤̺̜̟̣͓̥͕̪̼̱̹̟̺̅̈́̑̔̿̍̿̅́̏̈́̌̊̏͊̓̈̒͝l̷͈͕̰̤̫̠̼͔̭̲͗̀̈́̅̐̔̀̊̚͠͝͠w̴̢̧̡̡̯̞͉̜͎̰͖̼̺͙̬̯̬̰̩̣̯̐͌̆̎͐̽͒͌̓̂̾̌̈̈̓̌̆̎̔̄̓̚ȁ̷͓̞̪̳̳̱̍̀̒̅̓̚͜y̷̪͔͚̹͖̗͍̪̝͉̖̑̀̊̈́̃̌ṡ̸̢̧̟̹̳̲̺̘̘͈͍̽͗͛̎̅̆͌̍̋͛͂̚͝ ̷̺̣͊͘ḃ̶̰̰̆̔͗̚͝ͅę̵̧̢̬̮̺̜̦͇̹͎̞̠̖͈͔́͋͗͒̈̽̽͛̐̌̀̌͌̈́͌̉͊͑͘̚̚͠ḙ̸̡̥̦̳͙͇̘̘̽͐n̶̨̨̡̫̻̲̯͈̱͍̳̻͓̼͌͐̈̓͂̓̈́͂̀̚ ̷͚̙̊̃̂̐̿͛͂̿̐̈́̽̋̇̃̓̂̉̚͘͝h̶̛̛͕̫̪̘̲̼͎̟̎̈͌̋̋̽͗̈̄̓̌͂̇͝͠͠e̸̹͕̮̓̊̃͌̒͛̒̒̀̅͌̚͜r̴̢̨̛̛̮̥̲̦̩͔̯̯͚̮͙̠̬̮̲̫̬̮̈́̆̔͌̾͛̃̄̚͝é̴̻̱̭̙͇̫͇͚̖͇̺́͋̎͐̐̆̑́̀̈́̋̉͋́̀͜͠͝
'
'
Issei's screams echoed through the void — but there was no one to hear him.
Issei's eyes snapped open.
His breath came out in ragged gasps, his heart pounding painfully against his chest. The crushing darkness was gone — but the weight of what he had just experienced still clung to him like a lingering nightmare.
He staggered to his feet, his mind still reeling. The cold... the eyes... the hand...
"What... what the hell was that?"
He glanced down at himself, expecting to see the same nightmarish armor from before — but what he saw was different.
He was still wearing armor, but this one was... familiar — far closer to his Balance Breaker. The crimson plating gleamed under the dim, smoke-filled sky. The emerald-green gems embedded across the suit pulsed faintly with power. There were no otherworldly symbols, no pulsating veins of reddish-purple energy.
The bulkier design gave him a more intimidating presence than his usual Balance Breaker — thicker and more reinforced — but it didn't feel suffocating like before.
No violent surges.
No suffocating pressure.
It was powerful — more powerful than anything he'd ever worn. The power coursing through him was immense... but bearable. Stable. Like the armor itself was holding itselfback and he felt like he could enter a more powerful form if he wished.
For a moment, he just stood there — trying to process everything.
"Where... am I?"
He looked around — and his heart sank.
It was Kuoh Town.
Or at least, what was left of it.
Everything was gone.
Buildings reduced to crumbling rubble stretched out as far as his eyes could see. Entire streets had been flattened. Black smoke billowed into the sky, casting everything under a sickly orange haze. Fires burned in the distance, flickering through the cracks of shattered structures.
Even in the devastation, he could still recognize certain places — the convenience store he always stopped by after school... the fast-food restaurant where he and his friends would hang out.
His favorite ramen shop... reduced to nothing but a broken sign half-buried under a mountain of debris.
But what truly made his stomach twist was the bodies.
Dozens — maybe hundreds — of corpses were scattered across the ruins. Men and women. Some crushed under rubble, others burned or torn apart by something far more violent. The air was thick with the sickening stench of death.
But something was weird with them. They... weren't human. They were supernatural beings. From Rias' and Akeno's lessons about the supernatural—he can guess that they are devils, some were angels, others were fallen, there were yokai too, and some others he couldn't discern.
His breath caught in his throat, nausea clawing at the back of his mind.
"What... what happened here?"
His mind raced, trying to piece together what was real. The last thing he remembered was that endless void... those six glowing eyes... that hand crushing him.
But even before that he remembered fighting Freed. He got his ass kicked, but he then pulled out a new maximum output dragon shot move out of his ass after gettingsaved by Koneko. He then lost consciousness after all that—atleast he felt a little better knowing he killed Freed.
But how had he ended up here?
Was this a dream?
A vision?
Or had he died — and this was hell?
He clenched his fists, trying to suppress the rising panic. His gauntlets creaked under the pressure.
"Ddraig...?"
No response.
That cold silence answered him again — the same silence from the void.
He was alone.
His chest heaved as he forced himself to move forward, the rubble crunching beneath his armored boots. His eyes scanned the destruction around him, trying to find any sign of life.
Every breath felt heavier.
Every step felt like the world was pressing down on him.
As Issei wandered through the ruins, his heart weighed down by the destruction around him, his eyes suddenly locked onto something strange amidst the wreckage.
Lying shattered across the ground was what looked like a lightning bolt—not just an image or symbol, but a physical, jagged weapon of pure energy, now broken into countless fragments. Sparks still flickered weakly from the shattered pieces, a fading remnant of what must have once been an immensely powerful weapon.
Beside it lay a tattered, bloody toga, torn to shreds, its once-pristine white fabric now stained deep red with gore. The ground beneath was gouged and cracked, as if something massive slashed and reduced everything to nothing more than remnants.
A cold shiver ran down Issei's spine.
"Who the hell could've done this…?"
Then, a weak, ragged cough broke the suffocating silence.
Issei's head snapped toward the sound.
His instincts took over, and he rushed forward, leaping over debris, his mind racing. Someone was alive—someone had survived this catastrophe.
And then he saw him.
A massive, burly man lay among the rubble—a warrior, that much was obvious. His broken armor was charred black, melted and fused with his flesh in a grotesque display of suffering. His entire body was burnt beyondrecognition, his skin blistered and cracked. His left arm was missing. Both legs were gone, likely burned away completely. He had been utterly devastated by whatever had struck this place.
Yet despite all of it, one of his eyes remained intact—and it was staring right at Issei.
Issei froze.
This man... shouldn't even bealive.
He looked like someone who had been hit by an exploding sun.
Next to him, half-buried in the rubble, lay ahammer, its once-glistening surface now broken and cracked, its power long extinguished.
The warrior coughed again, a painful, choked sound, his body barely clinging to life.
Then, he spoke.
Each word was a struggle, his voice hoarse, his breaths shallow.
"Go..."
He rasped.
Issei leaned in, his hands shaking.
"Go to your friends..."
The warrior forced out, his remaining eye never leaving Issei's.
"Save them."
Blood trickled from the man's lips as his body shuddered violently.
"They need you... or else..."
His breathing hitched—his entire form convulsing.
"They'll be slaughtered..."
A long, painful exhale.
The warrior's body sagged.
His eye dimmed.
And then—he was gone.
The last remnants of his strength faded, and his lifeless form lay still beneath the ruined sky.
Issei's breath caught in his throat. His hands clenched into fists.
His friends... were in danger.
And somewhere in the distance—a monster was waiting.
Instinct took over.
As if he had done this a thousand timesbefore, Issei stood up straight, his body moving with a sense of purpose that felt both natural and alien. Without hesitation, he unleashed his wings—massive, crimson, and pulsating with raw power.
Then, with a single explosive burst, he shot into the sky.
The wind roared past him, the world below shrinking as he ascended—only for his eyes to widen as he took in the full, unfathomable scale of the devastation.
Everywhere.
Destruction stretched across every horizon.
Every street. Every town. Every city.
They were all dead.
From above, it was like looking down at a world that had already lost.
Corpses lined the streets in numbers beyond counting—bodies piled atop one another, their deaths meaningless, their faces frozen in terror. Smoke and fire choked the skies, turning the clouds into a swirling mass of ashen gray and blood-red hues. The buildings that once stood tall were reduced to crumbling skeletons, their ruins stretching endlessly into the distance.
And then... the bodies of monsters.
Hundreds of thousands—maybe more.
Scattered across the land like fallen demons from a nightmare. Abominations of everyimaginable shape andsize lay slaughtered, their grotesque forms sprawled lifelessly across the ruined cities. Some had too manylimbs. Some had none. Some were fusedtogether in ways that defied nature itself.
And yet... the battle was still not over.
As he soared forward, his sharp eyes caught flashes of movement—monsters still fought against other survivors.
Their grotesque forms weaving through the ruins. Spells and magic attacks were hurled in every direction, weapons of terrifyingpower clashing violently, shaking what little remained of the broken world.
The deeper he went, the worse it got.
It was madness.
But then—there.
In the distance, far beyond the ruined lands, something called tohim.
Before he could even process it, his body moved on its own—his wings propelling him faster than he had ever flown before.
The ruined earth blurred beneath him, cities vanishing in seconds. His mind barely registered the names of the places he passed—Okayama, Hiroshima, Korea—all destroyed.
And then—
China.
In less than a minute, he reached it.
He saw some people in flowing robes, standing on floating swords fighting against countless abominations. He swears he heard one of them yelling 'You are courting death!' or something to one of the larger monsters.
And finally—he saw them.
His friends.
They stood together, their bodies tense, their weapons drawn, spells at the ready, their expressions grim. Dozens of others stood with them—warriors, mages, fighters he didn't recognize.
Yet... somehow, deep inside, they all felt familiar.
They stood determined—waiting.
As if preparing for a battle that could very well be their last.
And Issei knew, deep in his core—
That it may as well be true.
And then… he saw it.
A monstrous figure, standing across from them—waiting.
Issei's breath hitched. Dread coiled around his spine like a vice.
The being loomed at ten feet tall, its body a perfect, unnatural blend of raw power and grotesque perfection. Muscles carved like war itself, each fiber built for destruction, for dominance. It has a mouth on it's stomach that was grinning—filled with sharp teeth. And worst of all—three sets ofarms, all spread wide, as if welcoming them into the abyss.
But Issei's gaze was locked onto its face.
Six eyes.
Those dreaded six eyes.
The moment he saw them, something inside him snapped—a violent flashback tearing through his mind.
The colossal being from the void.
The overwhelming pressure.
The crushing force that had obliterated him.
For a single horrifying moment, he felt it again.
But… these eyes were different.
Unlike the abyssal ones that had haunted his soul, these burned with an unholy crimson-red glow, gleaming with something almost… playful.
As if the creature was amused.
It grinned—a wide, casual smirk that held nourgency, no fear. Only certainty.
The sheer amount of malevolent energy radiating from its body was like an endlesspit, a black hole of malice so dense it felt limitless—like the very concept of power itself had been twisted and redefined by this being's presence alone.
The very air shook under its presence.
It wasn't just powerful—it was wrong.
Like reality itself was rejecting its existence.
The space around them warped and twisted, the air thick as if the very world was suffocating under its presence. The ground beneath it cracked without it even moving.
And Issei felt it.
That dreadful, soul-deep fear.
It clawed at him, threatened to consume himwhole—a primal instinct screaming that he was standing before something beyond him, beyond anything he had ever faced.
For a moment—he felt himself breaking.
His heart thundered, his legs felt weak, his breath hitched—
No.
His eyes snapped to the people beside him.
His friends.
They were still standing. Still facing it.
Still ready to fight.
The fear clawing at him shattered.
He gritted his teeth, forcing the terror down.
Because he wasn't alone.
No matter how limitless this monster's power felt—
No matter how much dread it exuded—
They were here. Together.
And if this thing wanted to break them—
It would have to try.
No hesitation. No second-guessing.
Issei and his friends launched forward asone—a wave of unrelenting power, surging toward the monster that loomed before them.
And somehow—they moved perfectly together.
There was no need for words, no need for planning. They just knew.
Each warrior, each mage, each fighter synchronized, their movements blending together in a seamless dance of violence and precision.
They came at it from all angles, striking from above, below, and every side at once—magic blazed, weapons flashed, fists and blasts of energy tore through the battlefield, aimed to overwhelm it in an instant.
And yet—
It dodged.
Not just dodged—it moved like water, like wind, like something untouchable.
It twisted, sidestepping deadly spells like they were mere gusts of air.
It ducked under blades, leaned back at impossible angles to let weapons slice just inches away from its flesh.
A flicker of movement—
It flipped backward, letting a column of magic annihilate the ground beneath it instead.
A blur—
It used its many arms to push off the battlefield, twisting and contorting mid-air, weaving through attacks like a dancer in perfect rhythm.
Issei's fist—aimed straight for itsskull—
It tilted its head, barely dodging.
Then came another attack. And another.
And another.
None landed.
None.
Everything around them was being obliterated—the very ground cratering, the air shaking from their sheer force—yet the monster remained untouched.
And then—one hit finally landed.
A blast of raw, unrestrained powerslammedinto its chest, sending it skidding backward.
The group barely had a moment to react before—
Its wounds were already gone.
Not even a second had passed.
It healed instantly.
As if nothing had happened.
And the worst part?
Itwas stillgrinning.
Not once had its expression changed. Not once.
Even as they attacked relentlessly, even as they poured every ounce of their strength into each strike—
It was playing with them.
Mocking them.
It chuckled, a low, amused sound, as if this was nothing more than a game.
Then—it moved again.
And this time—
It attacked.
The battle had barely begun—and already, it was turning into a massacre.
With three of its right arms, the monster struck—a brutal, simultaneous punch aimed directly at a silver-haired warrior, awoman who looked like a Valkyrie.
She was fast. She was strong. She was ready.
But it didn't matter.
FWOOM!
The moment its fists collided with her abdomen, an explosion of red and black sparks detonated outward, the very air cracking from the force.
"Black Flash!"
The creature's voice dripped with amusement, its grin never faltering.
A heartbeat later—
CRASH!
The Valkyrie was launched like a missile, her body becoming a blur as she tore through the battlefield, crashing into the ground far behind them with an impact that shattered the earth.
The monster didn't stop.
It was already moving.
It weaved through them like a storm, its speed defied reality—one moment here, the next there—blitzing between fighters, cutting through their formation with terrifying precision.
BOOM!
A devastating kick sent a swordsman flying, his blade snapping like glass.
THWACK!
A casual backhand slammed another fighter into a nearby ruin, the walls collapsing on impact.
It didn't just fight—it overwhelmed.
With six arms, it struck from all angles at once, fists blurring through the air, smashing through defenses, tearing through magical barriers like paper. It could hit multiplepeople at once, its attacks covering everyblind spot, forcing them all on the defensive.
Spells rained down on it—fire, lightning, destruction, raw magic itself—
It barely flinched.
Their strongest attacks landed more frequently now, but the monster didn't slow down.
Didn't falter.
Didn't even acknowledge them as real threats.
Its wounds healed in moments, flesh knitting back together, ignoring it like the damage didn't even register.
And then there was the impact of its strikes.
Each punch—brutal, relentless—sent shockwaves tearing through the air, the ground rupturing beneath the sheer force.
Issei felt it.
Even through his armor, he felt it—his bones creaking, his organs twisting inside his body from the aftershocks alone.
And then—he realized.
Something was wrong with its punches.
They weren't just hitting hard.
They were pulling them in.
Each time its fist came close, it was as if the very space around it warped, dragging them toward its strikes, making it near impossible to fully dodge, forcing them to take the hit directly.
And that made it all so much worse.
Issei clenched his fists, his breath ragged, his heart pounding.
How the hell were they supposed to fight something like this?
"Come on, you brats!"
The monster's voice echoed across the battlefield, its tone laced with utter boredom.
"Do something exciting! You're starting to bore me."
It sighed, shaking its head as if this entire battle was nothing more than a tedious chore.
Its middle arms crossed lazily over its chest.
Its lower arms rested on its hips, fingers tapping idly.
Its upper right hand scratched absentmindedly at the hair on the back of its head.
Its upper left hand dug into its ear, casually picking at it as though cleaning out something irritating.
The sheer disregard it showed them—after all the devastation it had already caused—made Issei's blood boil.
Then—light.
A blinding radiance burst into existence, illuminating the battlefield with an intensity that forced even Issei to momentarily shield his eyes.
Itcame from above.
From her.
A woman descended from the sky, her presence like a divine beacon amidst the carnage.
She was an angel, her form radiant, her twelve majestic wings of pure white light spread wide behind her.
In her hands, a power was gathering—
A mass of holy light, brighter and brighter, expanding, swirling, growing into something overwhelming.
The air hummed with raw, holyenergy.
And then—sheunleashed it.
A titanic pillar of holy light erupted from her hands, a beam so massive it seemed to swallow the very heavens themselves, tearing down toward the monstrousabomination below.
The ground trembled. The sky split apart.
The battlefield was bathed in pure, holy radiance—
And the monster…
It just stood there.
Smirking.
The pillar of holy light continued its relentless onslaught, its holy fury crashing down upon the monstrous figure.
Ssssssshhh…
Its body smoked, its flesh blackening andpeeling beneath the searing radiance.
For the first time in this battle, it felt pain.
It lifted its hand, watching the tendrils of smoke rise from its charred skin. Its entire body sizzled, the sacred light eating away at its flesh faster than it could heal.
And then—
It laughed.
A deep, wild, howling laughter that sent chills through the battlefield.
Throwing its head back, it clutched its face, its laughter echoing like a demonic hymn.
"Now this!"
It roared, its voice thrumming with exhilaration.
"This is what real damage feels like!"
Its six crimson eyes, burning with gleeful malice, locked onto the angel above—the source of its suffering.
"But here's the thing!"
And in the next instant—
It moved.
BOOM!
It launched itself skyward, its powerful legs kicking off the ground so hard the earth beneath fractured.
But it didn't stop there.
The beam of light continued to hammer down at it, but the creature just ignored the damage and just darted through the air, its feet pressing against nothingness—as if the very sky itself was a series of platforms for it to jump off of.
Side to side. Left to right. Faster and faster.
In mere seconds, it had closed the distance.
And then—
"You're a one-trick pony!"
It cackled, its final leap sending it rocketing toward her with terrifying speed.
The angel's eyes widened.
She tried to react—tried to retreat—tried to summon another attack—
But she was too late.
Its hand slammed against her face.
For a single, frozen moment, the battlefield held its breath.
And then—
SPLATTER.
Her entire body burst into a thousand bloodycubes, flesh and bone shredded into an unrecognizable rain of gore that fell upon the battlefield below.
Where once there had been an angel—not just any angel but an archangel—
Now, there was nothing but tiny blocks of blood and meat.
"IRINA!"
The anguished cries of his comrades pierced the battlefield as the last remnants of the Archangel rained down upon the war-torn ground.
High above, the monstrous being fell from the sky, its smoking body finally healing, the holy light no longer hindering its regeneration.
But Issei wasn't watching that.
He was burning.
Issei didn't know why, but the archangel woman felt like someone that was extremely important to him.
A fire unlike anything before—an all-consuming rage—erupted inside him like a volcano.
His hands clenched into trembling fists.
His chest tightened.
And then, without thinking—he roared.
It wasn't just a shout.
It was a dragon's fury unleashed.
"STAR SONIC BOOSTER!"
A crimson flash exploded behind him as his wings unfurled, but it wasn't just his wings—
Jet-like thrusters ignited on his back, a blazing inferno of red-hot energy.
And then—BOOM!
He blasted forward, his body becoming a streak of crimson light, tearing through the sky with unnatural speed.
In an instant, he was upon it.
The creature barely had time to turn its head, its six crimson eyes widening in slight surprise.
But Issei was already roaring again—
"SOLID IMPACT BOOSTER!"
A flash of energy surged over his right arm, his gauntlet transforming, reshaping into a thick, armored hammer-fist, reinforced for maximum destruction.
And then—
He swung.
CRACK!
The blow connected, slamming into the monster's abdomen with earth-shattering force.
The sheer impact detonated a shockwave like an explosion, the force rippling through the air with a thunderous boom.
The creature was sent hurtling downward, its body tearing through the sky like a meteor.
It crashed into the earth like an apocalypticimpact, the ground shaking violently, sending dust, dirt, and debris exploding outward in all directions.
But Issei wasn't done.
His dragon's rage demanded more.
He roared again, eyes burning with pure fury.
"FANG BLAST BOOSTER!"
A crimson burst erupted around him as twomassive cannons materialized on his back, their barrels glowing with intense green energy—
And then—
He fired.
Twin pillars of draconic power erupted from the cannons, roaring through the air like the Red Dragon Emperor itself.
The moment they struck—
BOOOOOOOM!
A colossal explosion engulfed the battlefield, its fiery shockwave spreading outward like a nuclear blast, consuming everything in its wake.
The force of the impact was so immense that the ground shattered, buildings—what was left of them—were vaporized, and the air itself trembled under the sheer destructive force.
The blast was so massive, it almost dwarfed even a large city, its sheer energy ripping through the land and sky, sending shockwaves miles away.
And on the ground, his allies—his friends—braced themselves.
Some anchored themselves using magic, casting barriers of energy and runes to hold their footing.
Others jammed their weapons into the earth, gripping onto them for dear life.
Some crouched low, arms crossed, shielding their faces from the roaring winds and scorching heat.
The battlefield itself seemed to groan under the force of the attack.
And yet—
Despite all of that—
Despite the sheer destructive might Issei had unleashed—
He knew.
He felt it in his bones.
That thing wasn't dead yet.
The massive cannons on Issei's back flickered before dissipating into motes of crimson light. His transformed right gauntlet followed, reverting back to its original armored form.
His breath was heavy. His fists clenched. His heart thundered in his chest, anticipation coursing through his veins.
And then—
Silence.
The battlefield stood eerily still. The raging shockwaves of destruction had finally settled.
But in the midst of the smoke and dust, something moved.
A dark silhouette emerged through the swirling ruins and debris, its form slowly materializing as it stepped forward.
And there it was.
It wasn't unscathed.
Blood dripped from the corners of its mouth. A massive bruise spread across its abdomen where Issei's devastating punch had landed. Its once-pristine skin was now charred and burned from the twin blasts of dragon aura.
And yet—
Despite the injuries, despite the smoking flesh, despite the force that should have broken lesser beings—
It was still standing.
Still grinning.
Still breathing.
Issei gritted his teeth, a wave of frustration threatening to crush him.
"Dammit… it barely did anything."
His fingers twitched, rage bubbling beneath his skin—until he noticed something.
The monster was healing.
But—it was slower than before.
His attacks had done something.
His strength could reach it.
A tense standoff stretched between them. The air hung thick with pressure, a battlefield on the verge of eruption once more.
Then—
They moved.
Both exploded into action, their bodies becoming blurs of movement as they clashed in the middle of the ruined wasteland.
Issei reached first—his wings blasting him downward, his fist cocked back, aiming for another devastating blow.
But just as he was about to connect—
The monster jumped.
At the last possible second, it kicked down on Issei's back, using him as a springboard.
"Tch—!"
The impact drove Issei downward, his body slamming into the broken earth, but before he could fully react—
The monster flipped gracefully through the air, twisting past the incoming spells and attacks from his allies, landing directly behind them.
A chill raced down their spines.
The air thickened with malice.
A deep, guttural chuckle rumbled from behind them.
It didn't move.
It didn't shift into a stance.
It simply stood there.
And then—it raised a single hand.
Issei's eyes widened in horror.
He felt it before he saw it.
An overwhelming pressure filled the battlefield, a dreadful pulse of malevolence that sent chills through his entire body.
And then—
Dozens upon dozens of purple slashes materialized in an instant, tearing through the air faster than the eye could follow.
"EVERYBODY WATCH OUT!"
Issei roared.
But it was too late.
His allies didn't understand. They couldn't react in time.
The closest ones—those who had been charging straight at the monster—
Were cut apart.
Limbs severed.
Bodies bisected.
Blood sprayed like fountains, painting the already ruined battlefield in fresh crimson.
Those farther back, the ones more durable, managed to survive—but not unscathed.
Deep, vicious gashes tore through their armor and flesh, sending them staggering backward, clutching their wounds as blood poured freely.
A horrified silence settled over the battlefield.
The monster grinned.
It hadn't even moved from its spot.
Issei's rage boiled over.
"STAR SONIC BOOSTER!"
A crimson flash erupted from his back, jet-like thrusters roaring to life.
He became a blur, shooting toward it at blinding speeds, aiming to slam into it and drive it away from his friends.
But it didn't flinch.
It met him head-on.
Their hands clashed in a violent collision of force, palms pressing against each other in a deadly contest of strength.
The impact unleashed a massive shockwave, sending debris and dust exploding outward. The ground beneath them cracked and shattered, forming a deep crater as their sheer power tore the battlefield apart.
Issei gritted his teeth, pushing with all his might, his muscles screaming in resistance.
But—
It had six arms.
And it used them all.
Its upper arms reared back and hammered down on his back like falling meteors.
"GAAH!"
Pain exploded through Issei's body as the devastating blows crushed into him, forcing him to stumble.
And in that moment—
Its lower arms struck.
Both fists slammed into Issei's abdomen at once.
The force was unbelievable.
A sonic boom erupted from the impact, the air itself distorting around them as Issei was sent rocketing backward like a missile.
His body tore through the battlefield, crashing into the ground, tumbling violently through the dirt, smashing through ruins.
Until—
He was caught.
Strong arms wrapped around him, stopping his momentum as he skidded to a halt.
He looked up.
Koneko stood there, her feet dug into the earth, her arms straining as she held him, absorbing the brunt of the impact.
Despite the force, despite the pain, she didn't let him go.
"Get up, idiot. We're not done yet."
Issei gritted his teeth, clenching his fists.
The battle wasn't over.
Not even close.
Issei's hands trembled as he looked at Koneko—bleeding, battered, but still standing.
"Why didn't you guys dodge?"
His voice was raw, desperate.
Koneko wiped the blood from her lip, her wounds started to close as she used her senjutsu to heal herself while her eyes narrowed in confusion.
"Dodge what? We didn't see anything coming."
A cold realization gripped Issei's chest.
They couldn't see the slashes.
He was the only one who could perceive them.
Before he could warn them further—
The monster attacked again.
It exploded forward, moving like a storm of pure destruction.
Its punches and kicks came from all angles, launching fighters like ragdolls, sending bodies crashing into ruins, smashing through stone and metal as if they were paper.
But that wasn't all.
Even while striking one person, its other arms lashed out—fingers snapping toward other fighters.
And in an instant—
Invisible purple slashes tore through the battlefield.
They ripped through armor and flesh alike, unseen and unstoppable.
One raised a barrier to block a punch—
Only for an invisible slash to carve straight through their torso.
Another dodged a direct hit—
Only to be cut in three by slashes appearing point-blank.
Screams filled the air as more bodies fell. Some died instantly, torn into gruesome pieces. Others collapsed, clutching their deep, vicious wounds as blood pooled beneath them.
But the ones who survived fought on.
They healed themselves through magic, through senjutsu, divine energy, and through sheer willpower—anything to keep fighting.
Issei and Koneko charged back in.
The slaughter continued.
Issei could see the slashes and dodged them more than the others, weaving through the deadly unseen slashes. His armor absorbed the glancing cuts, sparking with impact but holding strong.
But the others weren't as lucky.
Koneko barely avoided death, her body riddled with fresh gashes. Blood soaked her fists, but she refused to back down as she continuosly healed herself.
The battlefield was a war zone of carnage and chaos.
Magic spells exploded in the air. Blows clashed. The monster's mockinglaughter echoed between the ruins.
Issei's heart pounded as he gritted his teeth.
They couldn't keep this up.
No matter how strong they were, no matter how hard they fought—
This monster was tearing them apart.
At this rate—
They would all die.
The battle raged on, but no matter how hard they fought—it was merciless.
Issei landed a solid dropkick against its ribs, but before he could press the advantage, avice-like grip snatched him midair.
"Gkh—!"
It swung him like a club, his armored body colliding with his own allies, sending them flying.
Then, with one last spin, it hurled him away like trash—
CRASH!
Issei slammed through a crumbling stone wall, shattering it into rubble as he skidded across the ruined battlefield.
Pain flared through his body. His head pounded, but he pushed himself up, forcing his mind to race through the chaos.
Think, damn it!
His eyes darted across the battlefield.
His allies were still fighting—but struggling.
They had adapted to its movements, but the unseen slashes still tore through them relentlessly.
Even the strongest warriors—those blessed with divine energy, powerful magic, sacred gears, touki and ssenjutsu—were beginning to slow.
And worse—their healing was failing.
Issei gritted his teeth.
If this continued—they wouldn't last.
Then—an idea struck him.
A desperate, reckless gamble.
He threw his left gauntlet into the air and roared.
"TRANSFER!"
A blinding emerald pulse exploded outward, flooding the battlefield like a tidal wave of draconic power.
His allies flinched as the energy washed over them, surging through their bodies, fortifying their weapons, their armor, their magic—and most importantly—
Their eyes.
They blinked in shock—then their faces twisted in horrified realization.
For the first time—they could see it.
The slashes.
Dozens—hundreds—of invisible purple slashes tearing through the air, cutting through anything and everything in their path.
But now—they could dodge.
And they did.
They twisted, rolled, weaved through the storm of death—no longer blind to the unseen massacre.
Weapons clashed against its flesh with newfound precision, spells found their mark, and counterattacks landed.
For the first time—it seemed like victory is in sight.
Issei almost felt hope—
Until he saw it.
Their healing—slowing even further.
Their strength—waning.
The slashes had done more than just wound them.
They were cutting away at something deeper.
Their souls.
Issei's heart pounded in his chest.
This wasn't just a battle.
It was a war of attrition.
And at this rate—
They were still going tolose if they didn't do something drastic.
Koneko's voice echoed in his head.
"I have a plan."
He stiffened, eyes darting toward her.
"You're not gonna like it."
She was right.
But there was no time to argue.
With a grim nod, he relayed the plan to the others through their comms, their responses quick and silent as they stealthily moved into position.
Then—
Koneko moved.
No hesitation. No fear.
She launched herself forward, a blur of white, silver, and golden energy. Touki andSenjutsu flooded through her body, igniting an aura around her like a blazing inferno.
And she charged—completely exposed.
It grinned.
A hand rose, fingers splayed.
Dozens.
Hundreds.
A storm of purple slashes tore through the air, whistling as they raced toward her.
"KONEKO!"
Issei's voice roared out, but she didn't stop.
The first slash ripped across her arm—blood sprayed.
Another tore into her thigh—her balance wavered.
More followed. Cutting. Tearing. Pushing her back.
But she kept going.
Her entire form was painted in red, the slashes hacking into her flesh, but she refused tofall.
With every agonizing step forward, she poured more and more energy into her body, forcing her wounds to close just enough to keep moving.
Her breaths came out ragged.
Her muscles screamed.
Her bones cracked.
But her eyes—blazing with raw determination—never wavered.
She was getting closer.
The monster's grin widened.
Then—
She was there.
Her fist reeled back—
And she struck.
A thunderous boom shattered the air as her fist collided with its jaw.
The sheer force cratered the ground beneath them.
It staggered.
Its massive form skidded backward, feet carving trenches into the ruined earth as it fought to regain its footing.
It crouched low—digging its left arms into the ground, fingers tearing through stone anddirt—until it finally came to a stop.
A flicker of surprise crossed its face.
Then—
A voice thundered through the battlefield.
"NOW!"
At Koneko's command, every fighter surged forward, their weapons gleaming, their spells crackling with raw, concentrated power. Blades. Magic. Fists.
Everything was aimed at one target.
It.
They moved synchronized, surrounding it from all angles, sealing off every possible escape.
There was nowhere to run.
Issei was at the forefront, his left gauntlet shifting, warping, transforming. A hulking hammer-fist took shape, crimson energy surging around it. His wings flared, thrustersigniting as he prepared to bring it down with everything he had.
"We have you now!"
And yet—
It smirked.
Its lower arms moved.
Fingers curled together, forming a precise, deliberate hand sign.
It closed its eyes.
For just a fraction of a second, the battlefield felt like it had stopped breathing.
When it opened them again—
A malevolent, violet-crimson glow radiated from its gaze.
Then—
Nothing.
Their attacks halted mid-air.
Spells, mere inches from striking its flesh, flickered and froze in place.
Blades, mere centimeters from cutting into its body, refused to move forward.
Fists, charged with earth-shattering strength, were held back by an invisible force.
Issei's eyes widened in horror.
His gauntlet—his massive, transformed hammer-fist—was stuck.
It was right there. Right in front of its grinning face.
He tried to force it forward, muscles straining, armor creaking under the pressure.
Nothing.
He pushed harder.
Nothing.
His wings flared, thrusters roaring, trying to give him the extra force to break through—
Nothing.
It hadn't moved a single inch.
And yet—
They couldn't touch it.
The battlefield froze in shock.
Their spells fizzled out, dying before they could reach their target.
Their weapons trembled in the air, locked in place, utterly useless.
The realization set in like a vice grip on their throats. They couldn't touch it.
Every close-range fighter, including Issei, staggered back, eyes wide with frustration and disbelief.
And it just stood there.
Its upper arms crossed over its chest, its middle arms rested on its waist, and its lower arms remained in that unwavering hand sign.
It grinned.
"Wanna try that again?"
Its voice was thick withmockery, dripping with condescension.
"Go ahead. Hit me."
The battlefield was dead silent.
It tilted its head, smirking.
"I won't move. I won't even defend myself. This is your last shot."
Then, with a sneer—
"Because I'm generous like that."
A flash of rage burned through their hesitation.
With a collective battle cry, they charged again.
Blades tore through the air.
Fists surged forward with bone-shattering strength.
Magic flared and crackled, surging like an unstoppable tidal wave.
A storm of attacks descended upon it from all angles—
And yet—
Every attack, every blade, every spell, every fist—stopped.
Just before impact.
The space itself refused to let them pass.
It was as if some unseen force had warped space around it, making it so that that nothing could touch it.
A whirlwind of strikes, weapons, and magic crashed against an invisible wall—completely useless.
And still—
It didn't move.
It just stood there, watching them struggle in vain.
Having had its fun, it shook its head, letting out a low, disdainful chuckle.
"Hmph. Hehe… Pathetic."
Its voice dripped with boredom and cruelty, like a cat toying with mice that had lost their will to run.
"Just as I thought."
It rolled its neck, arms stretching lazily.
"You all never really amounted to anything more than annoying pests."
Then—
Its expression darkened.
It brought its upper arms together, hands cupped, as if holding something delicate yet infinitely powerful.
It began to chant—both it's mouth and the one on it's stomach in unison.
"Phase. Twilight. Eyes of Wisdom."
Between its palms, a small orb of shimmering blue flickered into existence.
The air trembled.
Space itself seemed to bend around it.
The sphere twisted, pulsating, growing larger with each whispered incantation.
Panic flashed through Issei and his allies.
They didn't know what it was doing—
But they felt it.
A creeping, inescapable dread.
A sense of finality.
It had to be stopped. Now.
With desperation fueling them, they charged.
Blades, fists, magic—all hurled with everything they had.
It was still useless.
The orb grew.
And grew.
And grew.
Its arms spread wide, encircling the sphere like a deity unveiling divine judgment.
Then, with a voice that shook their souls—
"Cursed Technique Amplification: Maximum Output."
The orb quaked in response, its surface warping, pulsing.
They ran.
They had to.
Every instinct, every nerve screamed at them—
Get away.
The ground fractured beneath it, unable to withstand the sheer force radiating from the growing sphere.
Then—
It whispered.
A single word—
A decree of absolute destruction.
"Blue."
With a slow, almost leisurely gesture, it swept an arm through the air—guiding the massive blue sphere to circle around him before letting it hang above in the air stationary.
It pulled.
The sphere's gravitational field exploded outward, warping the very fabric of space.
Everything began to be attracted toward it—debris, shattered buildings, the earth itself.
And people.
Issei's allies screamed as their bodies lifted off the ground, their limbs flailing helplessly.
Then—they were pulled in.
The moment they touched the sphere, they were ripped apart.
Some imploded instantly, crushed beneath the incomprehensible force.
Others were stretched and twisted, their bodies unraveling before being torn apart.
Blood and gore spiraled into the sphere, lost forever.
The air was filled with their shrieks of agony, only to be silenced as they were grinded to a pulp.
Issei and his closest friends managed to escape, pushing beyond the sphere's range just in time.
But then—
His heart stopped.
He turned back.
And saw her.
Koneko.
She was slipping.
Her body dragged across the ground, her nails digging trenches into the shattered earth as she fought to resist the pull.
Her terrified eyes locked onto his.
"Koneko!"
Issei roared.
"Star Sonic Booster!"
His crimson thrusters ignited, propelling him forward in a crimson streak.
He lunged, catching her by the arms just as she lifted off the ground.
He dug his heels into the earth, the sheer force of his strength and the power of his thrusters fighting against the pull.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
He strained, muscles screaming—
The sphere is going to devour her.
And it was winning.
"Let go!"
Koneko screamed.
"You have to let go!"
"NO!"
Issei snarled, his grip tightening.
"I won't lose you!"
She shook her head furiously, tears streaming down her face.
"You can't save me! Save yourself!"
But Issei refused.
He roared, pushing more power into his thrusters, his whole body trembling from the strain.
The pull was too strong.
Then—
A sickening, wet rip.
Agony.
His grip suddenly slackened.
Because there was nothing left to hold.
He stared—
Koneko's arms were still in his hands.
Her body was gone.
She had been ripped away, pulled into the into the sphere.
And in his final glimpse of her—
She wasn't screaming.
She simply looked at him—with sorrow, with love, with a quiet goodbye.
Then she was gone.
Erased.
The massive blue sphere pulsed one final time—then vanished.
Leaving nothing behind.
Just empty air.
And the bloodstained arms inIssei's trembling hands.
"Heh. Hey, you're gonna eat that?"
The thing pointed at Koneko's arms, its sneering grin splitting wider.
"I may not be Chinese, but yokai meat tastes the best. Especially your kitty girlfriend."
It licked its lips, its six violet-crimson eyes gleaming with delightful cruelty.
"So what do you say, lil' bitch lizard boy?"
The sky split apart.
Golden radiance descended like a divine decree, illuminating the battlefield with an ethereal glow. The heavens seemed to hum with authority, and then—they arrived.
The Celestial Court had come.
Dozens of immortal cultivators emerged, standing upon flying swords that gleamed like rivers of light. Their flowing robes shimmered with the power of a thousand techniques, their eyes filled with ancient wisdom and unparalleled might.
They hovered above the battlefield like immortal lords, gazing down at the abomination with disdain. Their presence alone bent the air, their mere existence warping the natural laws of the world.
At their center, seated upon a golden dragon throne, was the Jade Emperor himself.
His voice, filled with the weight of eternity, echoed across the battlefield.
"Do you court death, creature?"
His words weren't a threat. They were a declaration.
________________________________________
But with Issei...
He couldn't care less of what's happening around him.
He stood frozen.
His hands still clenched Koneko's severed arms.
His breathing was ragged, his body locked in place, unable to move.
The voices of his friends blurred into the background, their desperate cries unable to reach him.
He was trapped in that moment.
The moment she was ripped away from him.
Her body—gone.
Her life—erased.
________________________________________
Then, the skies darkened once more.
A second wave of reinforcements arrived—
Hundreds of high-class and ultimate-class angels, fallen angels, and devils.
Then, the gods came.
And with them, their armies of the divine.
Ares stepped forward, clad in spartan crimson, his golden helm marked by countless wars.Behind him, an army of ancient Spartans, their shields locked, their spears brimming with divine power. Their war cries echoed across the battlefield, an unbreakable phalanx of destruction.
Durgā, the Warrior Goddess, arrived atop her fierce lion, her multiple arms wielding divine weapons. The earth trembled beneath her presence, her gaze sharp as the edge of her swords. Behind her, legions of Hindu celestial warriors—asuras and devas, their bodies glowing with divine essence, each a master of their own martial path.
Tyr, the Norse God of War, stood tall, his one remaining hand gripping the legendary blade of justice.The other wielding the spear Draupnir. With him, an army of Einherjar, warriors who had died in battle and been reborn for Ragnarok, their spectral forms flickering with the light of Valhalla's halls.
Hachiman, the Shinto God of War, arrived next, his ornate samurai armor reflecting the stormy skies. His divine bow was drawn, his arrows carrying the very essence of fate. Behind him, a thousand spirit warriors from Japan's greatest battles stood ready, their katanas whispering with restless energy.
Set, the Egyptian God of Chaos, laughed as he stepped forward, his jackal-headed form wreathed in swirling sandstorms. His crook and flail pulsed with raw, untamed destruction.With him came warriors clad in golden armor, their eyes glowing with the divine energy of the desert gods.
The battlefield had shifted.
What was once a desperate fight had become a war of pantheons.
Yet, despite the overwhelming force assembled before it, the abomination merely—smirked.
It did not falter.
It did not bow.
It spread its upper arms wide, as if welcoming the gods themselves into its slaughterhouse.
It raised its middle and lower arms, both forming a new, blasphemous hand sign.
It's violet-crimson eyes shifting back to a crimson glow.
And then—
It chanted.
Not just with its mouth—
But with the monstrous, grinning maw on its stomach.
Their voices intertwined, a horrific unison.
With a voice that should not exist, a voice that was heard not just in the ears but in the soul itself—
"DOMAIN EXPANSION—"
Reality fractured.
The heavens above them collapsed into blackness.
The land beneath them screamed.
"MALEVOLENT EMBODIMENT OF PERFECTION."
And hell was unleashed.
The air turned heavy.
A deep, unnatural silence swallowed the battlefield, as if the world itself had been suffocated. The very concept of light seemed to bend away from the space behind it, twisting, distorting, rejecting reality itself.
Then, from the abyssal void—
Something crawled forth.
A colossal skull witout its jaw materialized, towering behind it like an executioner standing at the gallows. But this was no ordinary skull—it had six empty eye sockets, each one a bottomless abyss, staring into the souls of those who dared to gaze upon it.
And then—they opened.
Six livid crimson eyes blazed to life, their malevolent glow like molten blood searing through the darkness. They didn't simply look. They judged. They devoured.
But the nightmare did not end there.
Attached behind the skull, writhing like the appendages of a unborn god, were six enormous arms.
Each of the monstrous limbs stretched grotesquely into the void, their inky flesh shifting, pulsating with a rhythm that was both alive and utterly wrong.
Then—
The hands unfurled.
Each gargantuan palm revealed a gaping, voracious maw lined with rows of grotesquely large human teeth, each one stained, sharpened, eager.
The mouths twitched, their breath reeked of death, their tongues writhed hungrily, slavering at the air like beasts denied a feast for eons.
And then, the final horror.
At the very tips of each monstrous hand—where there should have been fingernails, or claws—there were none.
Instead, embedded into each of the monstrous fingers were glowing, crimson eyes.
And they blinked.
All at once.
The battlefield was no longer a place of war.
It was a place of judgment.
It was a place of doom.
It happened all at once.
A deafening silence swallowed the battlefield for only a fraction of a second—
Then the slaughter began.
Pure carnage erupted from all directions, as countless upon countless slashes cutting through the air with a sound like a million screaming voices. The very space around them became a swirling hurricane of death—a storm of death, each strike cleaving through flesh, bone, armor, and divine protections as if they were nothing more than paper.
Bodies exploded.
The weaker ones were the first to go—torn apart before they could even scream, their bodies shredded into a mist of red and chunks of unrecognizable meat. And even those chunks of unrecognizable meat were slashed continuously until they were reduced until there was nothing left.
The stronger ones fought back—desperately, frantically.
They poured every last drop of their energy into resisting the relentless onslaught, forcing their bodies to stitch themselves back together as fast as they were being torn apart.
Ares roared, his bloodied hands clutching his torso as his Spartan warriors were sliced to ribbons around him. He charged towards it and swung his blade in defiance, only to feel his soul shatter after being relentlessly carved through by the slashes, his divine body splitting apart as his divine ichor poured from the wound no longer being able to resist.
Durgā fought atop her lion, the goddess wielding her many weapons at once, trieslashing, striking, deflecting—but it was futile because the slashes directly appeared on their bodies. Each divine limb she tried to regenerate was instantly severed again. Her lion let out one final, pained roar before both were ripped apart in a rain of golden blood.
Tyr bellowed in rage, the war god standing firm as his runes flared with desperate power, trying to keep his body whole. He dashed up close to the creature and held his sword high, but the moment he swung—his entire torso twisted and burst apart, his divine heart cut into pieces before he even hit the ground.
Hachiman, the god of war, stood defiant, but the very moment he drew his bow, his arms vanished in a spray of blood. His divine essence tried to sustain him, his divine power wrapping around him like an armor of light, but even that failed. The unseen slashes severed his spirit itself, unraveling him into nothing but fragments of his former existence.
Seth, the Egyptian god of chaos, let out a final, guttural snarl, his divine storm raging around him. Lightning crackled, sandstorms howled—but it didn't matter. His immortal form was shredded into strips of flesh and bone, his divine energy dispersing into the void.
Angels, devils, fallen, gods—all were reduced to ribbons of gore in mere moments.
Even the most powerful among them were helpless.
The attacks did not simply tear through their flesh. They shredded their very souls.
Healing was meaningless. Power was meaningless.
One by one, their struggles ended.
The gods who once reigned supreme, the divine beings who had watched over existence itself—were nothing more than minced meat and divine remnants scattering into the wind.
And standing amidst the butchery—
It laughed.
Watching them die.
One. By. One.
But amidst the carnage, amidst the storm of butchery—one figure still stood.
Issei.
He barely felt the first slashes. Not at first. His mind was too numb, his heart too shattered.
It was only when Koneko's severed arms—her last remains—reduced into dust in his grip that the pain hit him.
Then—his own body was torn apart.
The slashes came without mercy, ripping through his armor like it was nothing, carving into his flesh, his bones, his organs. He didn't even saw them—only felt them, his body being split apart in a hundred places at once.
He should have died.
He should have joined them—his friends, his allies, the gods themselves—reduced to nothing but mist and gore.
But something within him refused.
His body was healing. Not through his own will. Not through his power.
Something else was keeping him intact.
He stumbled, his vision flickering. He barely recognized himself—his own blood painted the battlefield, his armor cracked, his form barely held together. Yet he did not fall.
Then, his eyes drifted—
And he saw them.
His friends. His comrades. His family.
Not just dead. Erased.
Ripped apart before they even had a chance to fight back. Their smiles, their voices, their lives—gone in an instant.
Something snapped.
His mind blanked.
His emotions spiraled into madness.
The despair should have swallowed him whole. The pain should have crushed him.
But instead—
A fire ignited.
An unquenchable, all-consuming, absolute rage.
A hatred deeper than anything he had ever felt.
A rage so overwhelming that the world itself seemed to tremble.
And in that moment—he made a vow.
A vow that did not come from reason, nor sanity, nor hope.
A vow that was simply pure, unfiltered, primal wrath.
"I will kill you."
"Even if I have to give up everything."
"Even if I have to sacrifice my power, my future, my body, my soul, my very existence."
"No matter what it takes—"
"I WILL KILL YOU!"
And the world itself answered.
Reality shuddered.
Fate twisted.
The slashes kept coming—but they no longer tore him apart.
They still cleaved clean through him. His body should not have been able to withstand them. Yet somehow—somehow—he remained standing.
As if the very laws of existence had warped to keep him alive.
As if fate itself refused to let him fall.
And for the first time since the massacre began—
It looked at him.
And for the first time—
It frowned.
As Issei fully surrendered to the abyss of his rage and despair, his Boosted Gear responded.
A deep crimson glow erupted from his armor, pulsing like a living heart. The very air shook around him. The shattered battlefield—once filled with gods, warriors, and legends—was now a barren graveyard of blood and ruin.
And yet—the slashes never stopped.
They still cut. Still tore. Still sought to erase him like all the others.
But it didn't matter.
Because Issei had already stepped beyond the realm of mortality.
And he began to chant.
"I, who am about to awaken—"
His voice was deep, reverberating like a dragon's roar. The very space around him cracked as his armor began to shift, contort, evolve.
"Am the Heavenly Dragon who has stolen the principles of domination from God—"
His form swelled. His armor morphed, expanded. The crimson glow burned brighter, hotter—consuming everything.
"I laugh at the Infinite—"
His power surged. The mere pressure of it shattered the ground beneath him, sending shockwaves rippling outward.
"And I fret over the dream."
His body grew. His shape twisted. His armor no longer fit the frame of a human.
It was something else now.
"I shall become the Red Dragon of Domination!"
The chant was no longer just words—it was an absolute declaration.
His armor didn't break. It didn't shatter.
Instead—it expanded.
The Boosted Gear enveloped his entire being, transforming, reshaping itself—not into a mere set of armor, but into a colossal, draconic form.
A titanic monster of crimson destruction, towering high into the sky.
His armor no longer fit a human frame—it took the shape of a dragon.
His helmet stretched into the snarling maw of a draconic beast, its fangs gleaming with the energy of raw domination.
His shoulders sprouted jagged, wing-like protrusions, massive and powerful, burning with crimson radiance.
His arms were thick, clawed, layered in reinforced plates, each gauntlet ending in massive talons that crackled with untamed power.
His legs were built like pillars of destruction, each step carving deep craters into the broken battlefield.
And from his back, true wings of burning energy ignited—vast, terrifying, more powerful than ever before.
He had truly become the Red Dragon Emperor.
And when he spoke—the world trembled.
"AND I SHALL SINK YOU—"
The slashes came again.
Hundreds. Thousands. They cut into him, but—
They couldn't kill him.
As if his very existence had transcended the power that had erased gods.
As if he no longer followed the same rules.
As if he was something more.
"TO THE DEPTHS OF CRIMSON PURGATORY!"
The heavens split.
The ground shattered.
And in that moment, Juggernaut Drive was unleashed.
An eruption of power unlike anything before, a storm of pure, unstoppable, apocalyptic destruction.
"BOOST! BOOST! BOOST!"
The chant thundered over and over, arelentless drumbeat of defiance.
The slashes never stopped.They carved through his massive, armored dragon form—cleaving, piercing, tearing—but Issei did not fall.
His colossal form wavered, fractured, split apart—but something beyond reason, beyond reality held him together.
He refused to die.
He refused to let this monster be the last thing left standing.
And as he continued to BOOST, pushing beyond all limits, beyond all reason—the battlefield trembled beneath his power.
Across from him, it laughed.
A cruel, guttural, delighted sound.
"HAHAHA! YOU'RE STILL STANDING?!"
The six-armed abomination grinned wide, its jagged teeth gleaming in the crimson glow of the ruined world.
"EVERYONE ELSE HAS BEEN REDUCED TO NOTHING—BUT YOU, YOU JUST KEEP STRUGGLING! WHAT ARE YOU, REALLY?! A DRAGON? NO! YOU'RE A COCKROACH!"
Issei didn't respond.
He didn't hear it.
Nothing else mattered.
His only thought—his only purpose—
Was to kill it.
At any cost.
Even as his own body began to break apart.
He had already reached his limit.
150 Boosts.
More than any past wielders had ever dared to push.
But it wasn't enough.
So he kept going.
160. 170. 180. 190. 200.
His very being began to collapse.His power threatened to rip him apart from the inside.
Crimson fractures spread across his titanicdragon-shaped armor.His wings flickered, glitching between existence and oblivion.
His body was no longer stable.
It was never meant to reach this level.
And yet, something held him together.
Not his will. Not his strength.
Something greater.
Reality itself refused to let him fall—if only to see this battle reach its climax.
Then—
The final attack.
The massive chestplate of his dragon-form slidopen.
A vortex of raw, unimaginable destruction gathered within.
All 200 Boosts.
All his power.
Everything.
He would pour everything into this one final blast.
He would erase this monster from existence.
His voice shook the heavens.
"LONGINUS SMASHER!!!"
A titanic pillar of emerald energy erupted from his chest—a beam so massive, so all-consuming, that it carved a hole through the sky itself.
It roared forward, annihilating all in its path, burning hotter and brighter than anything before it.
This was it.
The strongest attack he had ever unleashed.
But—
It had already moved.
It maintained the handsigns on its middle and lower arms.
Even as Issei fired, it was already raising one of its upper arms.
And both its mouths—
The one on its face.
And the one in its stomach.
Chanted in unison.
"Twin Meteors. Recoil. Scale of the Dragon."
It raised its hand—almost casually.
Then—just as the beam was about to consume it—
It scoffed.
"Dismantle."
The instant the words were spoken—
The Longinus Smasher split apart.
The massive, world-ending blast was severed down the middle, splitting in two—harmlessly veering past it.
The strongest attack Issei had ever fired.
Completely. Meaningless.
A terrible silence followed.
The battlefield stood still.
And then—
Issei's dragon form shattered.
His colossal, armored body collapsed.
The armor dissolved into light, shrinking, fading—until nothing was left.
He stood there—back in his normal form.
Just his uniform. No armor. No weapons. No power.
His vision blurred—not from exhaustion, not from pain—
But from something else.
A deep, terrifying realization.
That he had lost.
And then—
His vision split.
His world split.
And his body—
Was cleaved cleanly in two.
His two halves fell apart wetly.
Organs, blood, bone, flesh—spilling onto the ruined earth.
And Issei Hyoudou—
The Red Dragon Emperor—
Died.
Issei gasped awake, his body jerking violently, his breath coming in ragged, panicked bursts. His heart pounded against his ribs as if trying to break free. His skin was drenched in sweat, his hands trembling.
He kicked out, flailing, his mind still trapped in the horrors of the vision—
Until—
"Issei!"
A soft but firm voice cut through the terror.
Small hands grasped his arms, grounding him, and he turned to find a pair of warm, golden eyes staring into his.
Koneko.
Alive. Whole. Breathing.
Not torn apart. Not ripped from his grasp. Not swallowed by a massive blue sphere.
She was here.
A choked sound escaped his throat, and before he could stop himself—
He threw his arms around her, clutching her tightly.
Koneko stiffened at first, surprised, but then she eased into the embrace, her hands gently rubbing his back, whispering soothing words.
"It's okay. It was just a dream."
But it wasn't.
The moment his arms were around her, he could still feel the phantom sensation of her arms being ripped from her body.
The warmth of her skin felt like it was moments away from turning cold.
His breath hitched, and then—
The dam broke.
Tears fell freely as he buried his face in her shoulder, shaking.
Koneko held him.Let him cry. Let him release everything.
Minutes passed before she finally spoke again.
"What… did you dream about?"
Issei opened his mouth, but no words came.
Images flashed in his mind—
A battlefield soaked in blood.
A sky ripped open by power.
Slashes that tore through everything, even the soul.
The gods falling like insects.
The six glowing eyes watching him from the void.
His own body—bisected, lifeless.
He couldn't tell her.
Not because he didn't want to—
But because the moment he tried to remember the details, the dream blurred into nothingness.
As if something didn't want him to remember.
So he simply shook his head.
"It's blurry. I… don't remember much."
Liar.
"But it doesn't matter."
He forced a small, shaky smile, his grip on her tightening just slightly.
"What matters is… you're here. Everyone's here. And alive."
Koneko studied him for a long moment, her sharp gaze seeing right through him, but she didn't press. Instead, she gave a small nod, gently patting his back.
But deep within him—
He knew.
Something was coming.
Something terrible.
And no matter how much his mind tried to erase the nightmare, something deep inside him screamed that it wasn't just a dream.
It was a warning.
And he had to stop it.
Somehow.
His fingers curled into fists.
He had to get stronger.
Faster.
More than ever before.
If he didn't—
If he stayed as he was now—
They would all die.
A chill ran down his spine, an unshakable memory surfacing despite everything else fading.
The void.
The six, glowing, violet-crimson eyes.
Watching.
Waiting.
He prayed—hoped—that part wasn't real.
Because no matter how strong he became—
No matter what he sacrificed—
He couldn't think of a single way to defeat what lurked in the abyss.